Click here to download a .doc file of this liturgy.

A Foot Washing Liturgy (Eucharist optional)

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
—John 13.34

GREETING
Leader: Christ, our teacher and our healer,
you call us to your table, to celebrate our freedom in God.
All: We come, drawn by your Word.
Christ, our savior and our Sovereign,
you call us to be close to you in prayer.
We come, drawn by your Spirit.
Christ, our servant and our victim,
you call us to follow you in humility.
We come, drawn by your love. Amen.

SONG

OLD TESTAMENT — Isaiah 42.1-4

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
       my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit within you;
       you are to bring forth justice to the nations.
Do not cry or lift up your voice,
       or make it heard in the street;
Gently, so as not to break a bruised reed
       or quench a faint candle,
       faithfully bring forth true justice.
You will not grow faint or be crushed
       until you have established justice in the earth;
       and far lands wait for your teaching.

SILENCE

PRAYER
Gentle Christ, in humble service you renounce power, comfort and status.
We surrender our fear, and open our hearts to your grace.
You do not cry out; you will not quench even a dimly burning wick.
We confess our anger, despair and violence,
and our distrust of the power of love.
We confess our envy and judgment, our thirst to dominate and control.
You call us to be light for the nations,
to open blind eyes and release imprisoned souls.
May your compassion flow through us to all living beings.
We pray for all whom we think are beneath us.
We pray for all those whom we have judged or wounded.
Gentle Christ, you establish justice in all the earth.
Grant us your spirit of nonviolence, justice and mercy. Amen.

SILENCE

NEW TESTAMENT — 1 Corinthians 1.18-31
SILENCE

PRAYER
Suffering Christ, you humble yourself to death,
even to the shame and pain and injustice of the cross.
We confess that we hurt others, seeking our own security.
We pray for all who suffer, who are ashamed,
who are accused, for they are the Lamb of God.
You lovingly serve even those who harm you.
Grant us your spirit of humble servanthood.
Your tender love is more powerful than all our evil.
Grant us your spirit of self-emptying love. Amen.

(OFFERING)

SONG

(SHARING THE MEAL OF JESUS)

MEDITATION

SCRIPTURE — John 3. 1-17
SILENCE

PRAYER
Loving Christ,
in our sin you wash us clean; in our grief you bless us,
in our shame you honor us, in our weariness you restore us.
We confess our resistance to your grace.
Wash the feet of our hearts, that we may wholly belong to you.
You pour out your Spirit upon us, and make us your brimming vessels.
Anoint our spirits, that we may find joy in serving you.
Grant us your spirit of love, O God, your life-giving spirit of love.
Amen.

SONG

THE FOOTWASHING

SCRIPTURE — John 13.34-35
SILENCE

PSALM (Psalm 141, paraphrased)
Holy One, you who are always present for me, I call to you.
Hear the cry of my heart — oh hear!
My prayer rises like incense before you,
my hands I raise as my evening sacrifice.
Beloved, keep watch over my mouth;
stand guard at the door of my lips.
Keep me from evil thoughts,
from joining in other people’s anger.
Help me stay free from joining them in accusing;
may I never seek comfort in belonging with them.
Let righteous people strike me,
let the faithful condemn me,
but may the wicked never anoint me with the acid of their praise:
for every day I pray blessing in defiance of their evil.
When with the stones they would throw they are wounded,
then they will see how gentle my way has been.
The whole warring world is divided and split:
our bones lie at the edge of hell.
So we turn to you, O Loving One:
You are our healing, and our only hope.
Keep me out of the trap of blaming and judging,
the pit of evil so easy to fall into.
Let the violent be entangled in their own nets,
while I go freely on a different way.

SILENCE

SONG

BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH

Click here to download a doc. file of this service.

Maundy Thursday Worship: A Service of Anointing

———— The Miracle ————

GREETING

PRELUDE

OPENING
Leader: As children of God our Creator we come together.
All: Upon the invitation of Christ we gather at this table.
In the power of the Holy Spirit we who have been served by love
are led to serve in love.
Holy One, Holy Three, bless us this night with your love;
anoint us with your grace, that your joy may be in us,
and our joy may be complete.

SONG

SCRIPTURE — John 11.17-27, 43-44*

John 12.1
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

SCRIPTURE — Romans 6.1-11

RESPONSE
All of our failure, O Christ, you bear,
you bear with love to the cross.
All of our losses, O Christ, you bear,
you bear with love to the cross.
Our world-weary clinging we surrender to you.
Our old lives we commit to you.
We die in you, O Christ;
raise us from our death.
Call us, with Lazarus, to new life.
Raise us with you, O Christ.

SILENT MEDITATION

PRAYERS … THE PEACE

THE OFFERING

SONG

———— The meal ————

John 12.2
There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served,
and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.

SCRIPTURE — Mark 14.22-25

RESPONSE
God of love, we hunger for your love.
In this meal we are fed by your promise to be with us in love.
You set us free, and bless us, body and soul.
You make of us one flesh, the Body of Christ for the world.
Fill us with your Spirit, that we may live by the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

SILENT MEDITATION

PRAYER
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
baptized into his death and raised with him by your glory.SHARING THE MEAL

SONG

———— The anointing ————

John 12.3
Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard,
anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

SCRIPTURE — John 13.3-11

RESPONSE
O Christ, you bear the suffering of the world.
Help us join you in compassion.
You died in loving service to even the lowest among us.
Give us the faith to serve you humbly.
As you took the lowest place,
help us find our place of service.
Anoint us with the oil of your gladness.
Anoint us with the oil of healing.
Anoint us with your Spirit, who calls us to serve.
May we receive and share the love of Christ.

SILENT MEDITATION

THE ANOINTING
[You may receive anointing of your head, hands or feet. (For anointing feet, if you keep your shoes on, a few drops of water will be used.) You may remain to anoint another. Pray for those who come forward to be anointed.]SONG

——— The charge ———

John 12.4-8
Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said,
“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii
and the money given to the poor?”
Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me

SCRIPTURE — John 13.12-17, 34-35

CLOSING PRAYER
Creator God, you make us new each moment, raising us to new life.
Loving Christ, you have given yourself to us.
Holy Spirit, you have anointed us with your power and your grace.
In humility and gratitude may we go into the world
to love and to serve, in the spirit and the company of Jesus.
Amen.SONG

BLESSING AND SENDING

POSTLUDE

_______________

* Recent scholarship has revealed that “Martha” is a character invented and inserted into the original text in the 2^nd or 3^rd Century. In John’s original gospel it was Mary Magdalene who proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, as well as the one who first witnessed the risen Christ and proclaimed the Resurrection.

By the 2^nd Century male church leaders sough to downplay Mary’s significance in relation to Peter by taking the the Messianic proclamation away from her and giving it to an invented character, Martha, likely lifted from Luke’s story of a Mary who has a sister Martha. In light of this, I read the passage according to John’s original story:

          When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
            … Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. … He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

_________________

Suggested Songs

At Your Feet (original Song)

Jesus, at your feet I bow.
I am yours completely now.
By your mercy show me how
to be loving.

Jesus, Master, you who save,
you have served me as a slave.
This, the perfect gift you gave:
to be loving.

In each hurting one I meet
it is you, O Christ, I greet.
Make my faithfulness complete,
to be loving.

Click here to download this liturgy in a .doc format.

Good Friday Liturgy

INTRODUCTION (Philippians 2. 5-11)

Though Christ was by nature divine,
he did not cling to equality with God,
but emptied himself, took the form of a slave,
and was born as a human.
Lord have mercy.
Appearing in human form,
he humbled himself,
and became obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Christ have mercy.
Therefore God has highly exalted him,
and given him the name above all others,
that every knee should bend, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Giver of Life.
Lord have mercy, and grant us your peace.

KYRIE

PRAYER
Jesus, you carried our sins and sorrows in your own body on the cross so that we might have life. God, look with mercy upon your beloved people, for whom Christ was willing to suffer. Look upon us with mercy, that by your grace we, and all who remember this day, may find forgiveness, liberation from our sin, and new life in you, that we may walk in your ways, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to your eternal glory. Amen.
SILENT PRAYER

FIRST GOSPEL READING John 18: 1-27
SILENT REFLECTION

PRAYER
God of Truth, keep always in our minds your love for us, and our love for you. Deliver us from our fear of speaking out for justice and standing with those who are oppressed. Forgive us for tolerating injustice and wrong. Give us the strength to confront evil and to proclaim your grace, in the spirit of Christ. Amen.

HYMN

OLD TESTAMENT      (Isaiah 52:13 — 53:12)
My servant, you shall prosper;
        you shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
Just as there were many who were astonished at you—
        so marred was your appearance, beyond human semblance,
        and your form beyond that of mortals—
so you shall startle many nations;
        rulers shall shut their mouths because of you;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
        and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who would have believed what you have just heard?
        And to whom has the arm of the Holy One been revealed?
For you grew up before God like a young plant,
        and like a root out of dry ground;
you had no form or majesty to impress us,
        nothing in your appearance that we should desire you.

You were despised and rejected;
        one who knew suffering and was familiar with pain;
people despised you and looked away,
        and considered you worthless.

Surely you have borne our weakness and carried our diseases.
We thought you were being stricken by God,
        punished and humiliated—
but you suffered because of our sins,
        and were wounded by the evil we have done.
You were punished, and yet we are made whole;
        for in your suffering we find healing.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
        we have all turned to our own way;
        in you God has exposed our violence.

SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

You were oppressed, and afflicted,
        yet you did not open your mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
        and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
        so you did not open your mouth.
By a perversion of justice you were taken away.
        Who could have imagined your future?
For you were cut off from the land of the living,
        and suffered what was not yours to suffer.

They made your grave with the wicked
        buried you with the rich,
although you had done no violence,
        and had only spoken the truth.

Though you were crushed with pain, yet God believed in you,
        and healed you, whom we made an offering for sin.
You shall see your offspring,
        and shall prolong your days;
        through you God’s will shall prosper.

Out of your anguish you shall see light;
        and knowing the truth, you will find peace.
You, God’s righteous servant,
        shall make many righteous,
        and you shall bear their sins.

Therefore God will allot you a portion with the great,
        and you shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because you poured yourself out to death,
        and were numbered with the transgressors.
You bore the sin of many,
        yet forgave the transgressors.

SONG

NEW TESTAMENT (Hebrews 10: 16-25)

RESPONSE     [Kyrie, Song, Choir or instrumental piece]

SECOND GOSPEL READING (John 18:28 — 19:16)
SILENT REFLECTION

PRAYER
God of mercy, deliver us from our fear in which we judge others. We pray for all who are oppressed, imprisoned, persecuted or rejected. To you who have delivered us from slavery we pray for the faith and courage to work for justice and the freedom of your children, and to proclaim the good news of your grace. Amen.
RESPONSE    [Kyrie, Song, Choir or instrumental piece]

THIRD GOSPEL READING (John 19: 17-30)

PSALTER — Psalm 22

FOURTH GOSPEL READING (John 19: 31-42)
SILENT REFLECTION

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.
Have mercy on us.
O Christ, in your humility, your lonely struggle and your agony,
you share our suffering. Give us faith to trust your grace.
In your weakness, rejection and humiliation, your crown of
thorns, your bitter death and your resting in the grave,
you accompany those who suffer, who are in sorrow or who are alone, who face death or who know injustice.
In your steadfast love and forgiveness,
receive our sins, set us free, and grant us peace.
In your kindness in the face of evil,
give us trust in the power of love.
By the mystery of your grace in the face of violence,
show us your way, God. Put to death all that is evil in us, that we may never judge, blame or harm your children; that we may resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves; that we may bear your love to the world. Grant that we may die with Christ; and raise us to new life. Into your hands we commit our spirit.
We pray for your holy Church, the Body of Christ. Impart to us the Spirit of gentleness and peace, the Spirit of compassion and forgiveness, the Spirit of justice and freedom for all. By the grace of the crucified Christ, may we learn your way of love.
God, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. God, have mercy.

SILENT PRAYERS … THE LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN

THE SEVEN LAST WORDS

SILENT REFLECTION

You may remain as long as you wish, in silent prayer.